I agree that it feels like foursquare should have some sort of feature that scaffolds conversation, but am not entirely sure what I’d want that to look like. There’s an usability challenge of how then to ensure that the primary service the foursquare provides can be filtered from the side conversations. I’m more inclined to hope for some sort of integration between Google+ and Foursquare than for Foursquare to develop more Google+-style features.

I think part of my preference for keeping the people-focused and places-focused stuff more separate is privacy. The more I use these tools, the more difficult it becomes to manage my privacy. Not in terms of understanding settings and the implications, but more in making those value judgements between the trade-offs of limiting the audience versus giving more access to my life. For instance, with Google+, I’ve had both good surprises like the example I used, but also . . . less comfortable ones. So, for me, as I get used to a platform (and the broader user-behavior patterns that emerge), it’s easier to make platform-specific guidelines for what I do and don’t share and how.

Even though you can “Shout” out to friends, etc. It’s just not the same. Foursquare wants users to enjoy adventure and discovery of locations, not people. I think they would do much better if they give users a few more easily accessible features to communicate with one another.